Birmingham Public Library Board Minutes

Call To Order

• Meeting called to order by President Gwendolyn R. Amamoo.
• Georgia Blair gave the invocation.

Approvals

• Georgia Blair moved the approval of the agenda with an addition under "New Business." Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch seconded the motion, which passed.
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch moved the approval of the consent agenda with the following changes:
  • Under "Director's Report," page 1 should read "once these are done."
  • Under "Finance Committee," City attorneys did not attend the Finance Committee meeting 3.
  • Under "Finance Committee" The Community Foundation and the Regions Bank trust officer who manages the Tutwiler Fund will meet with the Finance Committee

Presentation

• The Library Board recognized Mayor William Bell. Mayor Bell was presented with a certificate which was accepted on his behalf by Charles Long.
• Dr. Craig Witherspoon, Superintendent for the Birmingham City Schools, was recognized for the system's partnership with the Library. Dr. Witherspoon was presented with a certificate.
• A resolution was presented to Associate Director, Angela Fisher Hall for her leadership and service as the Host Committee Chair for the American Association for State and Local History Annual Meeting in Birmingham held on September 18-21, 2013.

Star of the Month

• Dr. Monique Gardner-Witherspoon was recognized as the "Star of the Month."

Terry Oglesby, City Architect

• The Pratt City Library is gettting closer to completion. The expected completion date at this time is the end of October.
• The interior demolition of the Inglenook Library is complete. There was termite damage detected and Cook's Pest Control was brought in to make assessments and suggest repairs.
• The HVAC boxes at North Birmingham will be replaced. We are waiting for the City Council's approval on the cost.
• A contractor will have to be brought in to survey the Central Library's entrance area from the parking lot. Angela Hall will schedule this assessment.

Fred Fullerton, City Attorney

• The City has adopted a new gun policy which the Library Board will also adopt.

Policies, Procedures, and By-Laws Committee

• The Policies, Procedures, and By-Laws Committee met on Monday, September 16, 2013.
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch thanked Nicole King and Pam Jones for their work on the Personnel Policy Manual.
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch moved the approval of the Personnel Policy Manual. Dora Sims seconded the motion, wich passed.
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch moved the approval to implement the Personnel Policy at the October 24, 2013 Library Board meeting. Judge Vowell seconded the motion, which passed.
• The next Policies, Procedures, and By-Laws Committee meeting will be on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. The Trustee Policy Manual will be discussed at this meeting.

Personnel Committee

• The Personnel Committee met on Monday, September 23, 2013 to discuss the Library Director's Performance Improvement Plan.

Finance Committee

• The Finance Committee met on Monday, September 16, 2013.
• A detailed spending plan for State Aid should be prepared and then implemented.
• The Community Foundation and the Regions Bank trust officer who manages the Tutwiler Fund will meet with the Finance Committee in the future to discuss investment opportunities.

Long Range Planning Committee

• The Long Range Planning Committee will meet on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss library service in the Ensley Neighborhood.

Director's Report

Finance and Budget Update

• Still no change--The City Council has not approved a FY2014 Budget at this time. I believe that the library will be funded at the same level as last year for Library Materials and I will let you know as soon as the budget is passed and I know what the actual budget will be. We are able to make purchases and payments because the Budget Office has entered the same amounts in FY2013 budget. They will be changed to the new budget when it is passed. The August budget reports are included in your packet. Let me know if you have any questions.

Item for Board Approval

• We are recommending that the Smithfield Branch close at 1:00 on the Friday before the Magic City Classic. Last year on Friday afternoon there was a great deal of pregame preparation and activities, the parking lot filled up, and patrons could not reach the library. The Smithfield staff had a hard time getting out and going home that evening and requested that they close early that day as well as game day.

Update of Library and Director Activities

• I won't repeat items included in the update for my performance improvement plan here.
• The contract for planning the renovation of the Central Library Complex is being signed. Once these are done it will be sent to the City and will once again go before Council for final approval and then signing by the mayor. It's been a lengthy process and we are all looking forward to working on this project.
• I continue to meet with Chuck Faush to discuss the priorities for the library that arose in our cherette meeting on May 8. I am attaching the summary of these priorities that was submitted to Mr. Faush to this report for your information.
• I have made eight visits to branches since the last board meeting.
• Good news on the Jefferson County Library Cooperative—the Jefferson County Commission has voted $101,000 in their capital budget for FY2014 for us. Everyone is very pleased with this development. The funding will be used to upgrade the wide area network by making improvements to the server room. Pat Ryan, the executive director of JCLC, has done an excellent job of maintaining a very positive relationship with all of the commissioners. They are all very supportive of the JCLC and its services and have voiced it by stating repeatedly that as soon as the County can afford it, they will restore an annual contribution to the cooperative.

• The Read-It-Forward The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 project is going very well. All the books have been distributed. Attendance at the showing of the movie, which premieres on the Hallmark Channel on Friday, September 20, was a huge success. Everyone, including lots of library staff members, enjoyed the movie and seeing it in the Alabama Theater.

• I have not yet received reports on the Service Day and how it worked out for all BPL libraries. The Woodlawn Branch was adopted by Vulcan Materials and twenty volunteers cleaned up the grounds, trimmed shrubbery, and cleaned all shelves inside the library. I will report on others in next month’s report.
• The library's contribution to Empowerment Week was to present 14 performances by Kim and Reggie Harris, well-known folk musicians and storytellers. They were fantastic and were enjoyed by all who saw them and experienced their songs and stories about African American history. They provided one performance to Princeton School who had the highest number of registrations for the library's summer reading club. This incentive has been offered for a couple of years through our partnership with Superintendent Witherspoon and the schools.
• Staff Development Day will be on October 17. We will be at the Art Museum in the morning and then will come over to Central for lunch and breakout programs in the afternoon. We hope as many board members as possible can attend at least part of this day. The committee is working hard and the program promises to be educational and fun for all.
• American Association for State and Local History Conference will be here in Birmingham September 18-21. Angela Hall is serving as the chair of the Local Arrangements/Host Committee.
• We have submitted a grant to the Japan America Foundation to fund sending Miss Iwate, our Japanese Friendship Doll, to Japan for restoration and conservation. We are very hopeful that we will receive these funds.

Gifts, Grants, Awards, and Donations

• As reported in the board meeting last month, BPL was awarded $75,000 in an end-of-year LSTA grant. The funds will be used to set up a computer commons at the Five Points West Branch and purchase computers for several other locations as outlined in the grant proposal submitted that was not funded.
• Sol Kimmerling gave $5,000 in support of programming. Through this gift BPL presented "In Birmingham They Love the Guv'nor: George Wallace, Birmingham, and Beyond" on September 9. This event was recorded by C-Span and when we know the broadcast date we will let you know.

Upcoming Events

• Food for Fines continues until the end of September. We will accept canned goods in payment of fines up to $10 ($1 per food item). Items collected go to local food banks including the United Way and local churches.
• Jack and Jill of America Inc., Birmingham Chapter, and community members will celebrate "Carole Robertson Day" on Saturday, September 21, 2013, 10:30am-12:00pm, at Smithfield Library. The event will look at the impact the bombing had on the community and the critical role children played in the Birmingham civil rights movement in 1963.

• America's Music series continues through October 19. This series of films, programs, and performances is about the history of American music and its relationship to American life. For September programs and more details go to http://www.bplonline.org/Americas-Music.aspx

• Bards and Brews will be at the Avondale Brewery on October 4 and will be a SLAM—first place winner gets $200, and second place winner $100. The festivities start at 6:30 pm with live music, and poetry performances start at 7:00 pm.

• Smart Investing, the finance education series which will be called Making Cents locally, will continue through May of 2014. A full calendar of events may be found at http://making-cents.org/. This grant funded project is designed to educate the public on personal finance topics and is a collaboration between libraries in Jefferson County and libraries in Shelby County. The full schedule is also available on http://www.birmingham365.org.

Exhibits in Central's Gallery

• “Unseen….Unforgotten: Civil Rights Photographs from the Birmingham News” has been rehung in the First Floor Gallery. It will be up until October 31.
• Paintings by Professor Sky Shineman, Art Department, University of Alabama, August 12—September 20
• Watercolor Society of Alabama Annual Juried Exhibit, September 23- October 31, Reception is September 28

Reminders

• If you would like to support the restoration of Miss Iwate, our Japanese Friendship Doll by making a donation, go to http://www.bplonline.org/programs/Iwate.aspx.

• Dial a Story—Call (205) 226-3650 to listen to a great story over the phone!

• Be sure to check the BPL Blog at http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/ to keep up with all the activities going on at the library. You can subscribe and have any updates sent to your email if you have not already done so.

• Sign up for the BPLinks newsletter at http://www.bplonline.org/programs/

Unfinished Business

• There will be a Advocacy, Fundraising, and Development Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 3:30p.m. Representation by a BPL Trustee on the Friends' Board will be discussed.

Fred Fullerton, City Attorney

• The Library Board entered into executive session to discuss the Library Director's quarterly performance review.

New Business

• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch moved the approval to close the Smithfield Library for the Magic City Classic at 1:00p.m. on Friday, October 25, 2013 and all day on Saturday, October 26, 2013. Georgia Blair seconded the motion, which passed.
• Samuel Rumore moved that the current quarterly review of the Library Director's performance now be called a quarterly benchmarking report to be submitted to the Library Board as a whole on the state of the Library in written form in the place of a report to the Personnel Committee. Judge Scott Vowell seconded the motion, which passed.

Comments

• Dora Sims distributed a card to each Library Board member regarding Birmingham-Southern College's Black Alumni Affinity Group. They will host a lecture and Associate Director Angela Hall has agreed to be a guest speaker.
• Kim Richardson attended the Jack and Jill of America, Inc. program at the Smithfield Library.
• Georgia Blair's church, Greater Shiloh Baptist Church participated in a "Day of Service" and Ira Sims, a Foot Soldier, is being featured with his portrait at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Kimberly Richardson's daughter is also being featured in the exhibition. Mrs. Blair also attended the Jack and Jill of America, Inc. program at the Smithfield Library and has visited all the Birmingham Public Library branches with the exception of East Lake. Mrs. Blair commented that circulation was down.
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch thanked JCLC for their annual report. Mrs. Welch attended the Federal Grant Writers Workshop and stated that each Library Board member should know the mission of the Birmingham Public Library and also attended the Critical Thinking Workshop at the Jefferson County Board of Education.
• Gwendolyn Amamoo congratulated Angela Hall on her work on the AASLH 2013 Annual Meeting. Mrs. Amamoo has received some calls regarding the closing of the East Ensley Library. She also stated that the Read It Forward "The Watson's Go to Birmingham" was a huge success. On behalf of the Library, Mrs. Amamoo recently presented a copy of the book to Congresswoman Terry Sewell. She also attended in the "Day of Service" and read to Birmingham City School students, attended the Birmingham City School Board meeting in which the Library and the City both made presentations and also attended the Jack and Jill of America, Inc. program at the Smithfield Library. She also welcomed all the visitors to the Library Board meeeting

Submitted By

Irene S. Blalock, Secretary